[lala2000]

When my daughter was 10 months old my ex-husband left us and moved back in with his parents. The divorce did not go very well as I could not afford an attorney. He has a lot of serious issues and I did not want him to have visitation. He was awarded visitation, but thankfully has never used it( he lives in Georgia we live in Michigan). He sends the child support check every week, but has only tried to call once in the last 10 months. She is three years old and has no idea who he is. The only father she has ever known is my current husband. We would like for my current husband to adopt her but are afraid he will not release his parental rights. any info would be appreciated

[rkernagis]

Since he has not had any physical contact in over two years it should be possible for you to have his rights terminated. We had to do that in order for me to adopt my step daughter. Since this will involve interstate issues the first step is to get a lawyer. You can usually get a consultation for under fifty dollars. While it is technically possible for you to file the papers yourself I wouldn't advise it since you believe he will contest it and he lives in a different state. We used a lawyer in our situation because of both issues and it was still a lengthly process (but worth it!). I can't imagine doing it yourself with all these potential problems. Good Luck!